Chapter 10 exotic halva

In Boston lived a bright old chemist named Dawes.Sometimes he also does magic.There also lived a young lady named Claribel Sadetz, who was rich but not talented, and longed to be an actress. So Claire went to Dr. Dawes and said: "I can neither sing nor dance; I can neither recite poems nor play the piano; I can neither walk a tightrope nor jump high and kick, but I really want to be an actor. What do you think I should do?" ?” "Will you pay me if I make your wish come true?" asked the clever chemist. "Of course." Claribell said, shaking her purse. "Come and see me at two o'clock tomorrow afternoon," he said.

That night, he worked on an all-night chemical wizardry.When Claribell came to see him at two o'clock the next afternoon, he showed her a small box filled with various compounds that looked like French halva. "These are progressive times," said the old man, "and I dare not boast that your Uncle Daws has kept up with the times. Those old-fashioned wizards will give you some nasty bitter pills, but I can take from you." For taste and convenience, I offer you these marvelous halva. If you eat this lavender candy, you dance with the lightness and grace of a dancer in training all your life; swallow this pink one, You will sing wonderful songs like night sets; eat this white one, and you will become the best orator in the country; this chocolate-colored one will make you play the piano better than Rubens Dan; This lemon-colored one will kick your legs 6 feet above your head."

"It's wonderful!" Claribell couldn't restrain her excitement, and shouted, "You are the smartest magician and the most thoughtful pharmacist." She stretched out her hand to press the box. "Ahem!" said the wise chemist, "write me a check." "Oh, well, really! How could I have forgotten that? How stupid," she replied. He carefully held the box in his hand, watched her sign a huge check, and then handed her the candy box. "Are you sure that the halva you gave me has a strong effect?" she asked with some concern. "I usually take a lot of medicine."

"My only fear," replied Dr. Dawes, "is that they are too potent, and that it is the first time I have prepared these marvelous sugars at the request of others." "Don't worry," said Claribell, "the stronger they are, the better I will perform." After speaking, she bid farewell to Dr. Dawes and went to a silk shop to buy things.She had neglected the precious box that held her personal future, and left it on the ribbon counter. At this time, little Bessie Bostwick came to the counter and bought a ribbon, and put her parcel beside the box.When she left, she packed the box with her parcel and hurried home.

Bessie did not know this at all, and when she got home she hung up her coat in the hall closet and counted her purchases.At this time, she found another box, she opened the box, and shouted: "What's going on here? Why is there an extra box of candy? Someone must have put it in my place by mistake. However, there are only a few candies in it, so others won't mind it." She put the candy The sugar in the box was poured into a sugar dish on the table, and she picked up a piece of her favorite chocolate, eating it with relish, while looking at the things she bought. She didn't buy much.Because the little girl is only 16 years old.Her parents were worried about her going to the store and spending too much money.At this time, the little girl took out the ribbon she bought and was about to tie it on her head. She suddenly had a desire to play the piano.The desire grew stronger, and she went into the living room and turned on the piano.

In the past, the little girl learned to play two pieces of music after overcoming great difficulties.Usually, when practicing, her left and right hands are always uncoordinated.As her right hand moved across the keyboard, her left hand involuntarily moved away from the keyboard.Since the two hands don't work well together, the popped piece sounds very discordant.However, after the little girl ate the chocolate halva, she sat in front of the piano and danced back and forth on the keyboard with both hands easily.The pieces she played were so beautiful, beautiful, and harmonious that she was amazed at her wonderful performance, and at the same time, her heart was full of joy.

This is just the beginning.Then, she played Beethoven's Seventh Sonata, which she played extremely skillfully and beautifully. Her mother heard such a remarkable piano piece upstairs that she came downstairs thinking it was some musician.When she saw that it was her little girl playing the piano, she was stunned, her heart was beating wildly (she had a heart attack), and she sat on the sofa, waiting for her heartbeat to calm down. At this time, Bessie played one piece after another tirelessly.She loves music. She just discovered today that all she needs to do is sit in front of the piano, listen, and watch her fingers flick on the keyboard.

In the evening, the house darkened.Bessie's dad is back.He hung up his hat and coat and put the umbrella on the rack.He peeked into the drawing room to see who was playing the piano. "Great Caesar!" he cried, and Bessie's mother came softly to his side, put her finger to her lips, and whispered, "Leave her alone, John. Our boy seems to be possessed, Have you ever heard such beautiful music?" "Oh, she's a child prodigy!" said Papa, unable to contain his excitement, surprised him. "It's a miracle that she surpasses everyone!" They stood there listening to their daughter play the piano.The senator came to visit their home.They invited him to have dinner with them tonight.Before the senator could take off his coat, a professor from Yale University arrived, a man of brilliance and learning.

Bessie continued to play her piano, and the four elders stood in the living room listening fascinatedly, without saying a word. Everyone looked so surprised, they listened to the music in silence, waiting for the gong to start dinner. The little girl's father, Mr. Bostwick, was very hungry.He picked up the sugar dish on the table, picked a pink halva and ate it.The professor stared at him intently, Mr Bostwell politely handed him the sugar dish, and the professor ate a lemon-colored one.The senator took a lavender one, but he didn't eat it, but put it in his coat pocket.He was afraid that eating this candy would affect his appetite for dinner.Mrs. Bostwick, still absorbed in listening to her precocious daughter at the piano, picked up the last grain, the white halva, and chewed it slowly.

Now, the sugar dish is completely empty.These precious halvas of Claribel Sadtz are no longer hers forever! Suddenly the tall Mr. Bostwick began to sing in a shrill, trilling soprano.His song was not the same as Bessie's, the incongruity was so startling, the professor couldn't help laughing, the senator put his hands over his ears, Mrs Bostwick was terrified cried out: "William!" Her husband kept singing, as if trying to overtake Kristen Nelson, and stopped paying attention to his wife and guests. Fortunately, the gong sounded for supper.Mrs. Bostwick pulled the two guests away from the piano, and called the two guests into the dining room.Mr. Bostwick followed into the dining room, singing "The Last Rose of Summer" as he went, as if a thousand people were asking him to sing.

The poor housewife watched her husband's disorientated behavior hopelessly, not knowing how to control him, the professor looked more serious than usual, the senator's face was shadowed, Bessie's fingers were It keeps playing, as if it is still playing the piano. Mrs Bostwick did her best to entertain them.Her husband begins another aria.At this time, the maid came in with soup. When she approached the professor with the tray, he exclaimed excitedly: "Hold it higher! I say you raise the plate higher!" He jumped up, kicked the plate, and the plate flew towards the ceiling.The soup on the plate splashed all over Bessie and the maid, and pieces of the plate fell on the professor's bald head. Witnessing this poor performance, the Senator, with a cry of horror, jumped up from his seat and cast a long glance at his mistress. Just now, Mrs. Bost Chengke was still standing there with dazed eyes and a confused facial expression.Seeing the senator's eyes, she bowed politely and gracefully, and recited "The Charge of the Hussars" in a loud voice. The senator shuddered.He had never seen or heard such a commotion in a normal family.He felt his reputation was at stake.He was the only sane person in the room.He can't turn to anyone for help. The maid had long since run away, crying hysterically in the kitchen, Mr Bostwick was singing "Oh, Promise Me," and the Professor was trying to kick the bulb off the chandelier.Mrs. Bostwick began to recite "The Little Boy Standing on the Burning Deck", and Bessie had sneaked back to the drawing room and was playing the prelude to "The Dutch Aviator" vigorously. The senator believed that if he stayed here any longer, he would go crazy.So he slipped out of the confusion, grabbed his hat and coat from the living room, and fled the house in a haste. That night, he was staying up late writing a political speech, preparing to address the Senate the next afternoon.But his experiences at the Bostwick's had so wounded his nerves that he could scarcely concentrate on writing.Shaking his head pityingly at the thought of what he had witnessed in that generally respectable family, he stopped writing. The next day, he met Mr. Bostwick on the street. He walked past him without expression, pretending not to know him. He dared not recognize this gentleman again, Mr. Bostwick. Naturally angry about this.He vaguely remembered something very unusual that happened at the dinner party yesterday.So he didn't know whether he should protest the senator's attitude. Today's political meeting is a big deal.Everyone in Boston knew that the senator was a famous orator.So, the hall was packed.In the front row sat the Bostwicks, and beside them sat the learned Naru University professor.They all looked exhausted and pale, as if they had been up all night drinking.The senator's face tensed as soon as he saw them, and he didn't want to take another look at them. The mayor began to introduce the senator, and the great man, sitting restlessly in a chair, accidentally slipped his hand into the pocket of his underwear and touched the lavender halva that had been in his pocket the night before. "This will moisten my throat," thought the Senator, popping the sugar into his mouth. Shortly thereafter, he stood up facing the audience in the hall, who applauded him enthusiastically. "My friends," said the Senator with solemn dignity, "this is a most exciting and important meeting." He stopped, balanced his body on the ground with his left leg, and kicked his right leg like a ballerina! There was a second commotion of consternation and fear in the hall.The senator didn't seem to realize all this. He pirouetted on the ground with his toes, kicking his left and right legs alternately and gracefully.He stared affectionately at a bald old man in the front row, which frightened him. Suddenly, Claribel Sadtz, who was present, let out a scream, and Huo stood up abruptly. She pointed to the dancing senators and shouted: "He's the one who stole my halva! Catch him, arrest him! Don't let him get away!" But the porter drove her out of the hall, thinking that she had suddenly gone mad!The senator's friends seized him by force, led him off the platform, into the street, put him into a cab, and ordered the driver to drive him home. This strange halva was so effective that it completely controlled the poor senator.He stood on the back seat of the carriage and danced like crazy all the way.A group of little boys happily followed behind the carriage.The good and upright citizens felt that this was really a misfortune. They shook their heads mournfully and whispered, "Something is wrong with a good man." Months passed before the senator recovered from the humiliation.He didn't know what caused him to do that extraordinary behavior.Fortunately, he ate the last piece of crispy candy, but he didn't know what trouble would happen? Of course, Claribell went to the clever chemist again.She wrote him another check and exchanged him for another box of exotic halva.She had to watch them carefully, though.Because she is already a famous opera singer now.